Politics and Culture

November 28, 2010

More Domestic Landscapes

Dutch photographer Bert Teunissen has been engaged on his project of picturing domestic interiors since 1997, and by now has a considerable archive. He only uses natural light, so the whole enterprise captures a certain domestic ambience that feels timeless but is in truth gradually disappearing with changes in architectural style and living arrangements. It's what you might call - in the spirit of La France Profonde - "deep Europe". As he puts it:

‘The inhabitants of the houses I seek and photograph, still know how something should taste, how it has to be made; they understand the importance of time and ripening, they know the meaning and value of repetition – daily – yearly... Their houses and ways of life are fading out of our societies, forever, together with their knowledge. It is my aim to capture this, wherever I can find it, before it disappears completely.’

There's also a clear nod in the direction of the great Dutch masters of the domestic interior like Vermeer and de Hooch. Here's Geetbets, Belgium: